For most lawyers, wearing
bulletproof vests is not standard procedure. Nor are travel arrangements
made courtesy of the U.S. Capitol police.

Such
measures, though, have become commonplace to attorney Michael Wildes,
who has handled the immigration affairs of a suspected terrorist and a
high-profile Saudi defector, and has negotiated the safe return of children
kidnapped to foreign lands.

Wildes,
a former special assistant U.S. attorney in New York and an Englewood
councilman, is becoming well-known in the immigration community for handling
the toughest, most complicated, and potentially dangerous cases in immigration
law.

Above
left, Leon Wildes, left, with his son and law partner, Michael,
in Manhattan. Michael Wildes has an intense interest in family history
and credits his ancestors for who he is and what he has. Top left
his grandmother's passport, and below, that of his great-grandmother. Bottom
left, a family portrait taken just after 1900.

“I
think we send out a message to people who would want to undermine the
fundamental tenets of our government when we put ourselves out there and
stand up for what we believe in," said Wildes. "If I were to stand down
because of threats they level, they win.”

As
an immigration attorney, he has made headlines by defending the right
to asylum for a suspect in a Saudi bombing that killed 19 U.S. servicemen
in 1996. And he represented a Pakistani who claimed to have knowledge
of a 1998 nuclear attack on India (it never occurred).

In
September, the 34-year-old lawyer helped Petya Petrov, a Manhattan doctor,
retrieve her three children from Syria, where they were allegedly being
held unlawfully by her estranged husband, Viktor Petrov.

And
a few years ago, he became involved with a Saudi Arabian defector, who
was being hunted by a terrorist party from his country.

Wildes,
a boisterous, fast-talking Type-A personality who can seem pushy and caring
at the same time, seems to be driven by the high-pressure cases his clients
bring him. Always found with a phone at his ear (he owns two cellular
phones), Wildes claims to sleep only three hours a night and is in his
office at 5:30 a.m. each day.

“I'm
impassioned on their behalf to see that justice is served,” said Wildes,
a partner since 1996 at the Manhattan law Firm of Wildes & Weinberg,
which was founded by his father, Leon Wildes.

It
was this sense of justice that led him to help Petya Petrov, whose three
children were kidnapped to Syria by her husband. Wildes helped her free
of charge.

“I
was very lucky to get to know Mr. Wildes,” said Petya Petrov. “It was
the happiest thing when they returned.”

Petrov's
husband, Viktor, took the children to Syria, leaving a note saying he
was going to Great Adventure.

Viktor
Petrov allegedly had his parents hold the children hostage in Syria while
he returned to the United States, making demands that his wife let him
manage all her income except $5 per day. He also insisted that she find
him a job as a medical resident, and that she not make long distance phone
calls, use the Internet, or meet friends, she said.

“She
realized he was blackmailing her,” Wildes said. “Most people do not come
back to the United States after they kidnap their kids.”

Wildes
helped secure the children's return to their mother by negotiating with
Syrian officials to obtain custody and worked to get their father charged
in a complaint under the International Parental Kidnapping Act of 1993,
which he helped to pass.

“This
sends a very strong message that the government will prosecute these cases,”
said Wildes.

Several
years ago, Wildes helped to secure asylum for a former Saudi diplomat
to the United Nations whose life was being threatened.

Mohammed
Khilewi, who had been the No. 2 man at the Saudi Arabian Mission, was
made the target of a terror squad that meant to kidnap him and return
him to his native land.

Khilewi
has made allegations that the Saudi government was planning to assassinate
Washington diplomats and had bugged the offices of the Jewish Defense
League.

Under
protection of the Capitol Police and wearing flak jackets, Wildes and
the former ambassador went to Washington, where they spoke with congressional
leaders about Khilewi's need for asylum.

Asylum
was granted, and more than 14,000 documents, that supported Khilewi's
allegations were turned over to the FBI. His claims are under investigation.

“I
consider him a friend more than just a lawyer,” said Khilewi, who lives
in a secure location and still travels under armed guard.

Although
he has received accolades for his work on these and other similar cases,
the notoriety does come with a price: His life has been threatened several
times.

In
some respects, danger is not new to Wildes new to Wildes, who spent 10
years as an auxiliary police officer for the New York City Police Department.
He is licensed to carry a firearm in several states.

Wildes,
who was born in Manhattan on Nov. 22, 1964, spent most of his life in
queens, where he lived until 1995, before moving to Englewood.

In
elementary school, he would go to his father's immigration law office
and cut paper for use as scrap for the lawyers. As a reward, he was given
a “big, fat law book” to read.

“I
grew up always with immigration on my mind,” said Wildes, who was raised
an Orthodox Jew.

It
would have been difficult to think of much else.

Wildes'
father, a world-renowned expert on immigration law, started his law practice
more than 30 years ago and made his name by representing a very high profile
client, John Lennon.

Lennon's
problem was simple: U.S. law prevented him from becoming a citizen because
he had a drug conviction in Great Britain.

Leon
Wildes helped changed the law in the Lennon case, explaining that before
Lennon, anyone with a drug conviction was ineligible to come into the
United States and automatically deportable if discovered here.

Pictures
of Leon Wildes and John Lennon on the courthouse steps hang on the firm's
office walls and can be found in the brochures. Now, the younger Wildes
represents Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono.

“It's
a source of pride for me that Michael … has followed in the practice in
a way that only Michael could do,” said Leon Wildes. “I've always kept
a very quiet profile. Even if I had high profile clients, I never capitalized
on it or promoted myself or the practice. But Michael has attracted them
and done well by them and truly enhanced the practice with his personality.”

Wildes'
interests go beyond the immigration. As a member of the Englewood Council
for the past year, he is also involved in local politics, and he volunteers
for a Jewish ambulance squad in New York City- actually leaving clients
in his office when is called out on an emergency.

His
desire to help people is fueled by the knowledge of immigrants' struggles,
in particular, those of his own family.

And
Wildes' research into the difficulties his family faced when it came to
the United States from Eastern Europe has made his daily work more meaningful.

“I
see hundreds of passports come across my desk throughout the course of
the year,” Wildes said. “I have a very heightened sense when I review
these passports. I'm reminded that my grandfather, for all his contributions
to business in Germany, was regarded only as a Jew in the country.”

Wildes
has been collecting information about his ancestors and has put together
books for family members that include photocopies of his ancestors' immigration
papers, passports, correspondences, and even family recipes.

The
passports of his grandparents are marked with a “J” to identify them as
Jewish. And just in case the J was removed, all male passports were marked
with the name “Abraham” while female passports had the name “Sara.”

Wildes
said he is fascinated to learn all he can about his grandparents and great-grandparents,
whom he never knew.